“Jessie, hurry and tie your horse to the trailer and see if you can find the pliers in the pickup tool box. This bridle is coming apart.”

Although she knew she was tying the lead rope too low on the trailer, she hoped it would be alright because she wanted to hurry. As soon as she had taken the pliers to Paul, she turned to see Rascal go down with his feet all tangled in the rope. She hurried over to him, knelt down and tried to loosen his fetter, but the more she pulled at it, the more he kicked and the tighter it became. Finally in frustration she pleaded, “Rascal, if you would just stop thrashing I could untangle this, and you would be free.”

Paul had seen her dilemma and came over to where the horse was on the ground. He handed the reins for his horse to her, pulled out his pocket knife and cut the rope. Rascal got his feet under him, rose up and rubbed his head on Paul’s shoulder. “That’s the boy. You’re okay now,” he told the horse as he put his arm around his neck and patted him. Jessie reached over and stroked him too.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful as the two rode all over the pasture, counting cattle and checking the water tank at the windmill. The memory of the horse on the ground thrashing about stayed with both of them, however. Little did they know that the day was coming when the Lord would use the same words to them that Jessie had spoken to Rascal when he was tangled in the rope.

Try as they might to succeed, the times had turned against them, and it became apparent that they would not be able to continue their life with cattle and farming. There just wasn’t enough money to go around, and they had five children to care for. Darkness settled over their hearts and minds as they wondered what was to become of them.

With all the activity that a family their size lived with, there never seemed to be enough time to be quiet, pray and seek the Lord together. Therefore, they decided they should leave the kids with grandparents for a day and, with Bibles in hand, go to the mountains where they could find someplace quiet to pray.

The peaceful mountains calmed both Jessie and Paul on a beautiful day. They parked the car and walked a ways before finding a good spot for each of them to sit with their Bible. The time passed quietly as they sought God’s answers.

As Jessie prayed for direction, the Lord spoke to her spirit reminding her of the day she had tied the horse too low on the trailer, and he went down. As much as she had wanted to help him, she couldn’t because he thrashed about making it impossible to free him. “Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10a). If you and Paul will stop your thrashing, I will loose you from your ties as well. I will take care of you and your children. Trust me.” A beautiful peace enfolded Jessie, and she went to find Paul so she could share what the Lord had revealed to her.

As Jessie approached him, Paul looked up. The worry lines that had creased his forehead of late had relaxed and melted away. He smiled at Jessie, “God spoke to my spirit. I clearly heard him say, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Be still, that’s what we must do, Jessie. It may be hard, but we must stop trying to figure out what to do and just wait on God to show the way. We have tied ourselves up with worry and have been floundering. God alone knows the way, and He is trustworthy. If we keep our eyes on Him and stay close to each other, we will be all right. Let’s go home.”